His Story: A journey through the greatest story of all time
The Bible isn’t just an old book—it’s God’s story, and it’s still alive today. His Story takes you chapter by chapter through Scripture, combining simple readings of God’s Word with prayer for every listener and occasional reflections on what the passage means for our lives right now.
Whether you’re brand new to the Bible or have been reading it for years, this podcast is a space to slow down, hear God’s Word spoken, and be reminded that His story is also our story.
His Story: A journey through the greatest story of all time
Divine Interruption: How God Calls the Unlikely to Extraordinary Purpose
The burning bush, a divine interruption that forever changed the course of history. Moses, a fugitive shepherd in the backwaters of Midian, encounters God in the most unexpected way: through ordinary brush set ablaze yet mysteriously unconsumed. This pivotal moment reveals profound truths about how God works in our world and our lives.
At the heart of this encounter stands God's breathtaking self-revelation: "I AM WHO I AM." These words unveil the very essence of God, His self-existence, His independence, His unchanging nature. The name speaks to God's absolute reliability and becomes the foundation upon which every divine promise rests. When Moses questions his adequacy for the monumental task before him, God doesn't boost his confidence with assurances about his leadership qualities. Instead, He offers something far more powerful: "I will be with you." God's presence, not human capability, becomes the bedrock of Moses' calling.
What makes this passage especially meaningful is how it illuminates the pattern of divine initiative in redemption. Before Moses takes a single step, God has already seen the affliction of His people, heard their cries, known their sufferings, and come down to deliver them. This cascade of divine action reveals the heart of God, One who moves first in compassion before inviting us to participate in His redemptive work. The story challenges us to recognize the burning bushes in our own lives, those moments when God interrupts our ordinary routines with His extraordinary presence, calling us to purposes greater than ourselves. What might God be calling you to do today that you've been hesitating to embrace? Remember, when God calls, He equips, providing everything we need precisely when we need it, if only we'll step forward in obedience.
The Bible isn’t just an old book—it’s God’s story, and it’s still alive today. His Story takes you chapter by chapter through Scripture, combining simple readings of God’s Word with prayer for every listener and occasional reflections on what the passage means for our lives right now.
Whether you’re brand new to the Bible or have been reading it for years, this podcast is a space to slow down, hear God’s Word spoken, and be reminded that His story is also our story.
Welcome back to His Story, a journey through the greatest story of all time. Today we'll start in Exodus 3 with Moses at the button push. A push that is not just two, but space. Moses is a fugitive shepherd when God interrupts with holy fire. Chuck Squindal notes the desert years humbled Moses out of self-reliance so God can use him in dependence. God chooses an unremarkable bush and an obscure hillside, not a throne room, in order to reveal himself. God declares, I am who I am, unveiling his asseety and self-existence. This name speaks to God's unchanging, ever-present being, the one who simply is. It's the pattern of divine initiative in the text. God sees, hears, knows, and comes down. The promise, I will be with you, which grammatically echoes the divine name, links identity to presence. Let's get started. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this incredible day that you've given us. Help us to rejoice and be glad in it. Thank you for your word that we can read more about you, who you are, and what you desire of our lives. May we learn to love you more deeply through today's text. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father in law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses and he said, Here I am. Then he said, Do not come near, but take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Emorites, the Parazites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? He said, But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. Then Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name? What shall I say to them? God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, Say this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, Say this to the people of Israel The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey. And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us, and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it, and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and when you go, you shall not go empty, but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters, so you shall plunder the Egyptians. In this passage the ground is called holy, not because Sinai is magical, but because God is there. Moses must remove his sandals, a posture of humility and readiness. The bush burns yet is not consumed. Historically, the church has seen this as a sign of God's power to sustain his people under affliction and a foreshadowing of the incarnation, a deity dwelling in humanity, without consuming it. God names himself Eyah Asher, Eya, often rendered I am who I am, or I will be who I will be. The Septuagint renders it ego, EMI, Hoan, I am the one who is, language that reverberates through John's gospel and revelation. This asserts God's independence and reliability. It anchors every promise in God's unchanging being. God says, I have surely seen, I have heard, I know, I have come down. This cascade is the heartbeat of redemption. God moves first. The call to Moses rests not on competence, but on presence. I will be with you. And just like many of us probably would, Moses objects five times. God answers with himself. Leadership rests not on polish, but on presence and obedience. The staff that becomes a serpent signals God's dominion over Egypt's symbols of power. And the name revealed here blooms in Jesus' I am declarations that we see in the book of John. The flame that does not consume hints at the word becomes flesh, dwelling among us, full of grace and truth. Truly, when God calls us, he equips us, and we can trust that he will provide us everything that we need in the moment that we need it, so long as we are obedient to his call. What is it that God is calling you to do today? Or maybe he's been calling you to do it for a long time, and you've hesitated. You've had reservations, so you've said no, or not right now. What step do you need to take today in obedience to God, trusting that he will be there to provide everything you need when you need it? God, thank you for this amazing text, this incredible story of Moses' call when you chose to use him to bring your people out of Egypt, a frail, imperfect, sinful man that you called to be your leader. God, we know that you have a plan for all of our lives. God, I pray that today, after hearing this, that we would be ready to obey the call that you have for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Next time we will rest in Psalm 23 and learn the cadence of trust beneath pressure. Until next time, remember, Jesus wrote the greatest story ever told, and that includes loving you and me completely. See you next time.
